Bernstein Says SEC and CFTC To Rush Crypto Rules After CLARITY Act Failed - CoinMarketCap

The failure of the CLARITY Act has shifted the immediate burden of crypto rulemaking back to the two agencies that already hold jurisdiction: the SEC and the CFTC. According to Bernstein, that shift is likely to accelerate agency-level rulemaking rather than stall it, as both regulators move to fill the vacuum left by Congress.

For markets, the significance lies in the source of the rules. Agency guidance and rule proposals can move faster than legislation, but they are also more exposed to legal challenge and can be revised or reversed as administrations change. Legislative frameworks, by contrast, tend to offer more durable clarity, which is why industry participants have generally favored a congressional solution.

What to watch now is the pace and substance of formal proposals from each agency, particularly any division of responsibility between securities and commodity oversight. Also worth monitoring is whether agency action reduces uncertainty for exchanges and token issuers, or simply relocates it, since overlapping mandates could invite disputes over which regulator has authority in specific cases.